New Museum in Jerusalem Shows Life in Yeshua's Time

Jul. 15, 2018

“Your people love every stone in her walls and cherish even the dust in her streets.” Ps. 102:14

JOIN US IN JERUSALEM FOR THE SUCCOT CELEBRATIONS 2018: This year’s dates are September 25-27, 2018. Get 40% off if you book before August 1st, 2018. Early bird registration is closing in less than a month and tickets are going fast so reserve your places now at: https://succotcelebration2018.eventbrite.com. It is a special time in Israel’s history – the 70th anniversary of her re-establishment as a nation. The Bible teaches us the importance of remembering and celebrating the goodness of our Father at all times. Even in the middle of the barren desert, God gave the Israelites coverings, food, water and clothing. Vision for Israel feels honored to be the outworking of His care in Israel in the challenging times she still faces as a nation. Even through increasing poverty and threats to Israel’s safety as a nation, we see new measures of His faithfulness and His everlasting love! During this memorable time, let’s unite in Israel for Succot 2018 to thank and praise Him. We will: experience praise and worship with Paul Wilbur, Joshua Aaron, and local teams; enjoy teachings from Dennis Greenidge, Benjamin Siegal, David Herzog, Barry and Batya Segal, and more, focused on Israel and the Middle East, learning God’s heart for the nation of Israel; and walk and dance on the streets of Jerusalem during the annual Jerusalem parade!

NEW MUSEUM IN JERUSALEM SHOWS LIFE IN YESHUA’S TIME: The Terra Sancta Museum’s new wing, built into the ruined remains of Crusader and Mamluk buildings along the Via Dolorosa in the Old City, showcases objects discovered in excavations at biblical sites over the past century. Many of the items going on display in the new exhibit, titled “The House of Herod: Life and Power in the Age of the New Testament,” have never been shown to the public. Coins, ceramic fragments, ossuaries, and stone slabs bear inscriptions in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Samaritan, illustrating the kaleidoscopic variety of cultures present in the Holy Land during the first centuries. The artifacts include everything from elegant Corinthian columns from Herod’s palace to humble wares from Galilean homes. Father Eugenio Alliata, the museum director, said it was important to “present something of the real life of people at the time,” given that the teachings of Yeshua “are so much intersected with the common life of the people.” (Times of Israel)

ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNCOVER GATE TO BIBLICAL CITY OF ZER: A team of archaeologists, led by director of the Bethsaida Project, Dr. Rami Arav, have uncovered the entrance gate to the biblical city of Zer during excavations carried out in the Golan Heights over the past two weeks. The ancient fishing village is mentioned several times in the New Testament as a city where Yeshua lived and where he miraculously fed a multitude of people with five loaves and two fish. Archaeologists said the size, wealth and impressive fortifications indicate that Zer was a major city. Bethsaida was the name of the city during the Second Temple period, but during the First Temple period it was the city of Zer,” Arav said, pointing to Joshua 19:35, which says: “The fortified towns were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Kinnereth.” Arav began carrying out excavations of et-Tell on behalf of the University of Nebraska nearly 30 years ago. In these excavations, he identified the ancient Bethsaida, and following his excavations and discoveries, masses of Christian pilgrims visited the site because of its great importance to Christianity. The excavations are conducted northeast of the Sea of Galilee. Avi Lieberman, director of the Jordan Park in which Bethsaida is located said: “The staff at the Jordan Park and the Golan Tourism are happy for the tens of thousands of visitors who visit the park every day. The wonderful park is also an impressive archaeological site. I am amazed each time by the arrival of thousands of evangelical visitors to Bethsaida. The latest discoveries will bring more visitors to the park from around the world and from Israel.” (INN)

1,600-YEAR-OLD BIBLICAL MOSAICS PAINT NEW PICTURE OF GALILEAN LIFE: In its eighth dig season, the vibrant mosaic flooring of a fifth-century synagogue excavated in the small ancient Galilee village of Huqoq continues to surprise. The 2018 Huqoq dig has uncovered unprecedented depictions of biblical stories, including the Israelite spies in Canaan. With its rich finds, the Byzantine-period synagogue busts scholars’ preconceived notions of a Jewish settlement in decline. University of North Carolina Prof. Jodi Magness said the biblically based depictions are “unparalleled” and not found in any other ancient synagogue. Before wrapping up the dig season last week, the team of 20 excavators uncovered a further biblical mosaic panel, which shows a youth leading an animal on a rope and includes the inscription, “a small child shall lead them.” It is a reference to Isaiah 11:6, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.” Huqoq was a prosperous village about 3 miles from Magdala (home of Mary Magdalene) and Capernaum (where Yeshua taught in the synagogue),” located next to a fresh spring. It appears twice in the Hebrew Bible, in Joshua 19:32–34 and 1 Chronicles 6:74–75. (Times of Israel)

RECORD NUMBER OF TOURISTS VISIT ISRAEL IN FIRST HALF OF 2018: During the period between January and June 2018, about 2.1 million tourist entries were recorded, an increase of 19% compared to the same period in 2017 (1.74 million) and 26% more than in 2016. The number of 310,200 tourist entries recorded in June 2018 amounts to about 2% more than in June 2017. Since the beginning of the year, tourism has injected more than 12 billion shekels into the Israeli economy. Tourism Minister Yariv Levin said, “The marketing efforts and activities that we are spearheading in the ministry are leading us to new records, as, for the first time, we have crossed the 2 million threshold for tourist entries over the course of half a year. I am sure that all tourism-related enterprises will feel these results in the tourism industry, which contributes tens of billions of dollars every year to the Israeli economy,” he added. (Arutz-7)

GERMANY INCREASES FUNDING FOR HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS BY $88 MILLION: The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany in its announcement last week said the increase brings global allocations by Germany for 2019 to $564 million. The Claims Conference and representatives of the German government negotiated the increase in Washington, D.C. During the negotiations, the German officials were taken on a tour of the USA Holocaust Memorial Museum and heard from survivors about their personal experiences. “The significant increase for social welfare services secured by our negotiating team will lead to more home care, food support, medicine and transportation services for Jewish Holocaust survivors around the world,” said Claims Conference President Julius Berman. Also as a result of the negotiations, 55,000 Holocaust survivors in Central and Eastern Europe will see an increase in pensions and more child survivors who were living in hiding or under a false identity will be eligible to receive payments. (JTA) Pray that these additional funds will reach Holocaust survivors quickly and not be waylaid in bureaucracy as the majority of the victims of Nazi horrors are extremely elderly and many live in poverty.

ISRAELI FIRM GETS GREEN LIGHT TO ADVANCE TRIALS FOR NON-OPIATE PAINKILLER: Israeli pharmaceutical company PainReform last week received approval from the USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin late-stage clinical studies for a pain relief drug that is a departure from opiate-based narcotics. Many patients are prescribed opioids to deal with pain following surgery which can be highly addictive and after surgery are at the heart of a costly health crisis in the United States. PainReform said the FDA had given it a green light to carry out two Phase 3 trials on its product PRF-110, which prolongs the action of a local analgesic, or painkiller, called ropivacaine. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that the agency "remains focused on striking the right balance between reducing the rate of new addiction by decreasing exposure to opioids and rationalizing prescribing, while still enabling appropriate access to those patients who have legitimate medical need for these medicines." Opioids were involved in more than 42,000 deaths in the United States in 2016, more than any previous year on record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 40% of the opioid overdose deaths reported involved prescription drugs. (Haaretz)

HADASSAH EIN KEREM HOSPITAL TO USE WORLD’S MOST ADVANCED MICROSCOPE: Hadassah Ein Kerem announced Wed, 11 July, 2018 that its neurosurgery department has begun using the world’s most sophisticated surgical microscope, the KINEVO 900. Manufactured by the German optical company Zeiss, the microscope features a visualization system allowing surgeons to observe tumors in high-resolution without an eyepiece; and a robotically- controlled navigation system that facilitates precise microsurgery. Dr. Sergey Spektor, the director of the Skull Base Surgery Center of Hadassah’s neurosurgery department, said that microscopes play a critical role in brain operations. “Neurosurgery is a microscopic challenge… We need very good quality magnification, [for] crisp images, in order to see what we are doing,” he said. “But nowadays, a microscope is not only used for magnification, as a magnifying glass; it is also an instrument which is a part of the robotic operative system used in neurosurgery.” He praised the quality of the KINEVO 900’s cameras, as well as the microscope’s “wonderful mechanics.” While weighing more than 500 kg., the microscope remains “completely balanced” and thus easy for surgeons to operate during procedures, he said. Spektor added the machine enables surgeons to view images an external screen rather than looking through the eyepiece, and to view those images in 3D. (J.Post)

ISRAELI LUNAR LANDING PLANNED FOR 2019: An Israeli spacecraft will land on the moon early in 2019, the SpaceIL corporation announced this week, in a mission which would make Israel the fourth country to make a lunar landing. On 7 July 2018, SpaceIL representatives announced that the unmanned lunar landing craft will be transferred to the USA in Nov. 2018, with a launch date in Dec. 2018. According to SpaceIL, the space vessel will reach the moon and complete the lunar landing on 13 Feb. next year. If successful, the mission would make Israel the fourth country to make a soft-landing by an unmanned vehicle on the moon; preceded by the USSR, USA, and China. During its mission, the unmanned SpaceIL vehicle will plant the Israeli flag on the moon. (INN)

The suggestions, opinions and scripture references made by JNN writers and editors are based on the best information received.

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Vision for Israel & The Joseph Storehouse is a non-profit organization founded by Barry & Batya Segal in 1994, out of the desire to help build and restore the Land of Israel. VFI provides aid to poor and needy people from all backgrounds, living in the nation of Israel today.